News Politics National Congress likely to appoint Sheila Dikshit as party-in-charge of Punjab after Kamal Nath’s exit

Congress likely to appoint Sheila Dikshit as party-in-charge of Punjab after Kamal Nath’s exit

Sheila Dikshit today met party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi amid buzz that she could be appointed the next party-in-charge of Punjab, where Assembly elections will be held early next year.

Sheila Dikshit Image Source : PTISheila Dikshit

New Delhi: Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit today met party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi amid buzz that she could be appointed the next party-in-charge of Punjab, where Assembly elections will be held early next year.

The development comes a day after former Union minister Kamal Nath's resignation as the party-in-charge of Punjab.

While there has been no official announcement from Congress, her appointment is expected to happen within the next two days, reports said.

Dikshit, who has served as Delhi chief minister for three consecutive terms, was born in Punjab and is said to enjoy a considerable amount of support in the poll-bound state.

On Wednesday, Kamal Nath, who was recently appointed general secretary in-charge of Punjab, wrote a two-page letter to party chief requesting her to relieve him of the assignment.

Nath, a former Union minister, had said that ‘he had been hurt over the developments of the past few days during which an unnecessary controversy has been created around the tragic 1984 riots in New Delhi’.

Noting the Nanavati Commission set up by the NDA government had fully absolved him of any charges after proper investigation, he said that "certain elements" were raking these issues only for "political gains" and the maligning of the Congress using "false accusations" was unacceptable to him.